Short-term l-arginine supplementation attenuates elevation of interleukin 6 level after resistance exercise in overweight men.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: l-Arginine (l-arg) supplementation and resistance exercise can induce changes in inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines; however, it has not been investigated in obese hypertensive men. This study examines the effects of short-term l-arg supplementation and acute resistance exercise (AREX) on cytokine levels in obese hypertensive men. METHODS: Eight obese hypertensive men aged 46 ± 6 yrs. with an average body weight of 92.56 ± 9.9 kg and a BMI of 31.68 ± 2.18 kg/m2 participated in a randomized, double-blinded, crossover study. The patients were distributed into exercise groups based on the type of supplementation (6 g/day of placebo or l-arg for 7 days). Supplementation periods were separated by a seven-day washout period. The AREX regimen consisted of eight exercises with an exercise intensity of 60% of 1 repetition maximum. The interleukins IL-1ra, IL-6, and IL-10 and the IL-6/IL10 ratio were determined at rest, immediately after exercise and 1 h after exercise sessions. RESULTS: IL-1ra levels exhibited a significant difference both immediately and 1 h after exercise when the l-arg and placebo groups were compared (P < 0.05). IL-6 levels increased significantly after exercise in the placebo group compared with the l-arg group (P < 0.05). The placebo group showed a decrease in the IL-10 levels 1 h after exercise compared with resting levels (P < 0.05). The IL-6/IL-10 ratio showed a statistically significant increase in the placebo group after exercise compared to the l-arg group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: LARG supplementation attenuates the cytokine increase after AREX, in particular peak IL-6 levels decrease and exercise induced decreases in IL-10 levels are attenuated.

Avaliação do Desenvolvimento Motor em Crianças com Síndrome de Down / Evaluation of Motor Development in Children with Down Syndrome

RESUMO: a Síndrome de Down (SD) é uma alteração genética bastante conhecida por apresentar características físicas e cognitivas, com possíveis déficits em seu desenvolvimento motor. O objetivo do estudo foi de avaliar a idade motora em crianças com a SD e apontar quais categorias psicomotoras apresentaram maiores déficits em seus resultados. Foram participantes deste estudo sete crianças diagnosticadas com a SD, sem patologias associadas e para a avaliação da idade motora foram aplicados os testes da Escala de Desenvolvimento Motor (EDM). Por tratar-se de crianças com necessidades especiais, os dados foram avaliados e tabulados individualmente. Os resultados mostraram um desenvolvimento motor geral muito inferior ao esperado para todos os participantes na mesma idade. No entanto, foi verificado que o desenvolvimento motor fino apresentou menor prejuízo na maioria dos casos. Ao contrário da organização temporal, esquema corporal e equilíbrio que foram considerados muito aquém do esperado em todas as crianças. A organização temporal foi a tarefa na qual os participantes apresentaram maior atraso motor. Conclui-se que os níveis de atraso motor em crianças com SD, embora constantemente presentes, variam conforme a tarefa solicitada e de acordo com as individualidades de cada sujeito.

ABSTRACT: Down Syndrome (DS), is a genetic disorder well known for presenting physical and cognitive characteristics, with possible deficits in motor development. The present study aimed to evaluate the motor age in children with DS and point out which psychomotor categories showed higher deficits. The subjects of this study were seven children diagnosed with SD without associated pathologies. For evaluating the motor age, we applied Motor Development Scale (MDS) tests, which uses a set of tasks that culminate in a score, and subsequently classifies participants in relation to motor development. Because the participants were children with special needs, data were analyzed and tabulated separately. Results showed a that general motor development was much lower than expected for all participants at the same age. However, it was found that the fine motor development showed less impairment in most cases. Unlike temporal organization, body scheme and balance were considered much below the expectations for all children. Temporal organization was the poorest scored task. We concluded that motor delay levels in children with DS, although constantly present, vary according to the requested task and according to the individualities of each individual.